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Jan 14, 2010

Books and Me....

Did you ever believe that life could be touched by mere words on a paper?

I'm an avid reader.... I use the word avid, coz i cant really find any other word to express the ferocity with which I read. On the good days, I spend most part of my day reading. 10-12 hours of going through words written by people I've never met, and never would meet. I read when I travel daily (and I travel almost 4 hours every day); I read when I am at home, before I sleep, after I wake up, during the window I find between getting ready to leave for office and actually getting out of home, while I'm having my breakfast (I used to read while having dinner also, but I stopped having a sit down dinner recently...so I miss out on that opportunity). I even read while I'm sitting on the platform waiting for the local train to arrive, while I'm in the train waiting for it to move, waiting for it to reach the destination, while I'm waiting for the office pickup to come.... I read when once in a while, I find my workload dipping below its normal weight....

to make the long story short.... I read more than I do anything else... the only thing I can think I do more than reading is breathing... and buying books.

Most of the times, I find people asking me..."You BUY books? Why?" or "What do you do with books once you finish reading them?" or "Why not join a library?"... How do you explain why we don't hire people to be your friends? How can I make someone understand that there is no "READ ONLY ONCE" sticker on the books... How do you explain a blind person, what color is???

Another typical response comes when someone jumps up asking "Recommend something for me to read na..."

Its not possible to help someone to discover what joy of finding your call from a book. The right book, is not something you can receive from someone else. What you like, what you won't like, whether you would enjoy reading about rainy days in the mountains of Mussoorie or whether you find joy reading about treks in Amazon jungles; whether fiction about chromosome 6 holds your interest or sanity clouded in insane talks of a space traveler captures your heart.... its something YOU yourself should figure out. At least specify what your areas of interest before you pose a question.... Right?? :)